Phone thief strips students naked

Mohammed Abdul, one of two robbers who stormed the nurses training school in Winneba, stripped two students naked and robbed them of a phone at gunpoint, has appeared before court. Abdul, also known as Mamuda, 36, has been charged with conspiracy and robbery.

Mr Justice N. K. E. Osam, a High Court judge sitting as an additional Circuit Court judge, did not take Abdul’s plea, adjourned the case and issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Abdul’s accomplice, identified only as Kwame, who is on the run.

Abdul and his accomplice robbed the victim of her mobile phone (worth GH¢300) after stripping her and another student naked.

Inspector Alfred Boatey said about 7:30 p.m. on May 24, 2013, the two complainants were studying together in their private hostel when, out of the blue, a shotgun-wielding man emerged from the dark.

According to the prosecutor, Abdul ordered the girls to keep quiet and lie on the ground, otherwise he would shoot them.

He said Abdul also marched the students outside their hostel and seized their mobile phones from them, while Kwame, all that time, was in the dark holding a machete.

Inspector Boatey said the two robbers marched the girls into a nearby bush and stripped them naked.

He said the robbers tied up their victims, demanded their laptops and marched them back to the hostel for the computers.

According to Inspector Boatey, at the hostel, the gun-wielding man ordered one of the victims to knock on a neighbour’s door, but when the occupant of the room opened her door and saw the gunman behind the naked lady, she panicked and slammed the door.

He said Abdul fired at the door and bolted, while his accomplice, who was left in the bush, fled after he had heard the gunfire.

According to the prosecutor, on July 19, 2013, Abdul was arrested at Akim Oda upon a tip-off and was sent to Winneba.

He said during an identification parade, one of the victims identified Abdul as one of the robbers who robbed her of her mobile phone.

The prosecutor said the victim identified her phone among the phones retrieved from Abdul.